Plans for Blackpool FC’s new East Stand and sports village due for submission

Monday, 7 October 2024 07:14

By Shelagh Parkinson - LDRS

Plans for a new East Stand at Blackpool Football Club are due to be submitted next month – while work on community pitches next to the stadium will begin next spring.

The updated time scales for the project – which has received £6.5m from Blackpool’s £40m Town Deal – are included in a report due before councillors on Thursday October 10.

Work on the Revoe Sports Village has been delayed since planning permission was granted in January 2023 for an enclosed full-size 11-a-side artificial grass pitch and an enclosed five-a-side artificial grass pitch, both with floodlighting, a single-storey changing pavilion and a storage building.

It is now hoped to get on site next March with the project due to be completed in January 2026.

The report to the council’s Tourism, Economy and Communities Scrutiny Committee also says architects’ plans for the new spectator stand at the Seasiders’ Bloomfield Road ground, which makes up the second phase of investment, have been drawn up.

A total of 16 properties on Henry Street which are required for the development have now been acquired by the council, with the first demolition work of garages due to begin soon. Agreements are in place to buy a further two properties, with negotiations ongoing for another three.

The report says: “Blackpool Football Club are progressing the development of options and design work for the new East Stand, with a procurement process now complete and architects appointed to progress a planning application, with the proposal in place for this to be submitted in November 2024.

“Architects proposals for the new stand were displayed at a recent fans’

forum and were received positively.”

It was originally hoped work could begin on the Revoe Sports Village in autumn 2023, while the need to replace the temporary East Stand has been recognised for some time.

It is hoped the sports village will help tackle deprivation in the Revoe district of the town by providing much improved community facilities. It is expected to be operated by the Blackpool FC Community Trust.